Saturday, February 9, 2013

Off to a good start.......

Hello,  This year has started with plenty of interesting activity,
   I taught a class doing stone sculpture, visited a wonderful artist
             studio, and started a pottery class, 
my studio is stocked with supplies,    
 projects to last months on end....
and the weather is wonderful 
                                                    It's California........



     To prepare for the class I needed stones,
    driftwood, stray shells, dried seaweed etc.
    This is our local beach,
    I live in the coastal town you see in the background .

     
     I find the best material in piles like this.......
    everything needs to be bone dry,
    OH! I hope I find a few bones too.........



     Back at my studio, I lay out some items
     I'll use for my sample I take to share
     with the group...
     this stone is about as big as a fist,
     dry seaweed, these fancy shells
     I did not find at my beach,
     but I have baskets full of things to choose from.........


   
     I use wax linen,
     as it holds so nicely together when making knots....
     I tie around the stone 5 or 6 times
     depending on how much I plan on attaching..........



     I begin to tie and knot on pieces,
      using a half hitch knot as I go..........



     This is the finished sea sculpture,
      as you can see I used coral, beads,
     very tiny bits of dried plant material
     and left the " tails " of my wax linen
      to un~ coil to produce a wavy thread effect,
      being it's stiff with wax it stays where I place it .



     This is a larger one I did all in tones of white
      looks elegant under a dome....

     The class ( sorry no photo's ) was a success,
     and I think everyone enjoyed it.
     you can knot literally anything on a stone,
      piece of driftwood, an old book.......
     The most mundane becomes so magical
     and especially under glass.................






     I was invited to go to a artist studio,
      Lynn's work was quite inspiring,
      but it was her alpaca's that stole my heart....
     such gentle creatures, so curious, beautiful .


     These animals are loved like pets,
      each are named, there are mothers and fathers
     sons and daughters all living together in harmony
     well most of the time I gather......
     If I had land I would want alpaca's and donkeys.......
      I left with a swollen heart.....



     Speaking of hearts........ It's almost valentines day,
     on a trip down to Santa Barbara I pulled into a 'vista point'
     and all the boulders were carved with sentiments
     of love, these valentines will last forever................









     I leave you with hearts I've found....
     dried seaweed, shaped in a heart my husband found for me,
     a driftwood heart I prize as one of my very best finds ever .
    There are hearts all around us,
     when there is love in our hearts
     we see and find them......
           Happy Valentines Day  ~
     Wishing you happy days ~ victoria
   



4 comments:

  1. The alpacas are so cute! The one in the middle, looks like it's wearing a black cap. And, I love your creations. Lynda

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  2. what a fabulous piece! i loved that waxed twine!

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  3. Your artwork is stunning! I would never have thought you could create something so beautiful using all those items! I do love scrounging the woods for decorations, and the shore for shells and unusual rocks. I just keep them in a vase.

    I'm also seriously jealous of your California weather, especially since we just had an epic snowstorm with record breaking totals!

    It was great to stop by to see what you've been up to!

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  4. Just beautiful pieces Vicki, I love the beautiful rocks with twine and lovely pieces you found to incorporate. Always a pleasure to go to your very special blog!

    xx Susan

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